ALBA is a public institution serving the academic world and public research institutes. At the same time one of its strategic priorities is to foster industrial R&D activities through technological transfer and private utilisation of beamtime. The ALBA vision is to become a centre of excellence in Synchrotron Light Scientific and Industrial applications and to achieve the status of a recognized world class facility in its field. Its mission is to research in, deliver and maintain methods and techniques with which to conduct cutting edge synchrotron light-based research and development, in such a way that knowledge and added value are pumped into the scientific and industrial communities, particularly the Spanish ones, with the ultimate goal of contributing to the improvement of well-being and progress of society as a whole.

The eight ALBA beamlines currently in operation can be classified into three groups according to their main scientific application areas: i) those devoted to Life Sciences; ii) those devoted to Condensed Matter Physics, especially magnetic structures, electronic properties and Nanoscience; and iii) those devoted to Chemistry with applications in Materials Science and different multidisciplinary areas.